Preparation and Evaluation of Tabletting properties of Microcrystalline Cellulose from Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch

ABSTRACT The microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) was prepared from oil palm biomass, empty fruit bunch (EFB) for increasing the usability of EFB. The morphological, physical and chemical properties of MCC made from EFB were evaluated by comparing with those of the com-mercial MCC obtained from AVICEL. The EFB-MCC had the wider distribution in particle size and there were many small par-ticles around 10 μm. There were no significant differences in the cellulose crytallinity and the chemical composition between EFB-MCC and AVICEL-MCC. The properties of tablet samples made by the common direct compression process were evaluated depending on the types of MCC and the compression pressure during tablet making process. The tablet made of EFB MCC showed the higher compressed structure, which resulted in the less dis-integration by the water soaking treatment than those made of Avicel-MCC. The results of this study showed that the EFB-MCC could be utilized as one of the commercial MCC.Keywords: White waste paper, fluorescent whitening agent, fluorescence index, surfac-tant, disintegration